The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Design \De*sign"\ (?; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Designed; p.
   pr. & vb. n. Designing.] [F. d['e]signer to designate, cf.
   F. dessiner to draw, dessin drawing, dessein a plan or
   scheme; all, ultimately, from L. designare to designate; de-
   + signare to mark, mark out, signum mark, sign. See Sign,
   and cf. Design, n., Designate.]
   1. To draw preliminary outline or main features of; to sketch
      for a pattern or model; to delineate; to trace out; to
      draw. --Dryden.
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   2. To mark out and exhibit; to designate; to indicate; to
      show; to point out; to appoint.
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            We shall see
            Justice design the victor's chivalry. --Shak.
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            Meet me to-morrow where the master
            And this fraternity shall design.     --Beau. & Fl.
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   3. To create or produce, as a work of art; to form a plan or
      scheme of; to form in idea; to invent; to project; to lay
      out in the mind; as, a man designs an essay, a poem, a
      statue, or a cathedral.
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   4. To intend or purpose; -- usually with for before the
      remote object, but sometimes with to.
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            Ask of politicians the end for which laws were
            originally designed.                  --Burke.
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            He was designed to the study of the law. --Dryden.

   Syn: To sketch; plan; purpose; intend; propose; project;
        mean.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Designing \De*sign"ing\, a.
   Intriguing; artful; scheming; as, a designing man.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Designing \De*sign"ing\, n.
   The act of making designs or sketches; the act of forming
   designs or plans.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

designing
    adj 1: concealing crafty designs for advancing your own
           interest; "a selfish and designing nation obsessed with
           the dark schemes of European intrigue"- W.Churchill; "a
           scheming wife"; "a scheming gold digger" [syn:
           designing, scheming]
    n 1: the act of working out the form of something (as by making
         a sketch or outline or plan); "he contributed to the design
         of a new instrument" [syn: design, designing]